02/10/2026
Shropshire's Gwen Klu impressively wins her first World Tennis Tour junior titles in Ghana
Shropshire tennis player Gwen Klu has impressively won her first junior titles on the World Tennis Tour after starring at a tournament in Ghana.
The 16-year-old from Telford, a regular in Shropshire's county teams, enjoyed an excellent Billie Jean King Cup debut for Ghana in July, qualifying to represent the country through her Ghanaian dad William.
Gwen returned to the West African country to play in two J30 tournaments in Accra, Ghana's capital, earlier last month .
She made an immediate impact by winning both the singles and doubles titles in the opening tournament.
Gwen, an Ellesmere College student, also played well in a second J30 tournament the following week when she was runner-up in both the singles and doubles.
She unfortunately had to retire owing to injury in the singles final, which meant she was unable to play in the doubles final after enjoying another good run in both events.
But the teenager still headed home to Shropshire with much to be pleased about after again underlining her exciting potential.
Dad William said: "Gwen played very well and it was an improvement from last year when she went to Ghana for the first time to play. You could see an improvement in her game and the way she approached matches.
"Seeing her in the finals naturally made us proud, but unfortunately she got injured in the singles final in the second week which meant she was not able to go on and play a third week. She has now recovered and was able to practise a few times before coming back to the UK.
"It was a very successful time for Gwen and it's another good step for her. She now has to take a step higher and is not going to play J30 tournaments any longer. She is going to look to play in J60 and J100 tournaments.
"Gwen is getting a lot of support from Ellesmere College with her tennis, in particular from director of tennis Stephen Welti, and will next play in a J60 tournament at Loughborough on October 5."
Gwen, a member of Telford Tennis & Padel Club, enjoyed a successful opening week in Accra, winning both the singles and doubles titles.
As the tournament's fourth seed, Gwen produced a strong performance in the final against top seed Winner Gakpo from Togo to claim a 6-2, 6-2 victory and her first World Tennis Tour junior title.
Gwen then teamed up with Winner Gakpo, her opponent in the singles final, to also win the doubles title, winning the final 6-2, 6-1.
Gwen was also in good form in the following week's J30 tournament in Accra, advancing to both the singles and doubles finals again.
She lost the opening set of the singles final 7-5 to Goodnews Eyinjuolowa Ainia from Nigeria before retiring early in the second set owing to injury.
Gwen's success in Accra follows an enjoyable Billie Jean King Cup debut for the Shropshire teenager when she won five of her seven matches playing for Ghana in the World Cup of tennis in Botswana.
Pictured: Gwen Klu won both the singles and doubles titles in a World Tennis J30 tournament in Accra, the capital of Ghana
